To funding director, arts key to recovery
Brown takes over agency at critical time, stresses need for equity
When Vallie Brown steps into the directorship of San Francisco Grants for the Arts on Monday, March 8, it will be during an unparalleled period. The pandemic has decimated many arts organizations’ budgets, and it remains uncertain when their audiences will be able to return after COVID19. Social movements such as Black Lives Matter have also made issues of diversity and equity central to discussions about how the arts and its funding need to evolve.
Brown came to San Francisco as a visual artist in the 1980s before working as a legislative aide at City Hall in the 2000s. In July 2018, she was appointed supervisor representing District Five by Mayor London Breed. The Chronicle spoke to Brown about how her arts background will inform her role at a 50yearold city agency that gets its budget from San Francisco’s hotel tax fund, the need she sees for large organizations to uplift smaller ones, and what she thinks the arts community needs aside from funding.
Q: What is it like taking this role during such a difficult time for the arts community?
A: I’m really happy that the mayor put $11.2 million back into Grants for the Arts to cover the (loss of the) hotel tax. When I was putting my hat in the ring for this position, I just kept pounding away that our hotel taxes are pretty much zip — how are we going to address this? I really believe arts and culture are the city’s golden ticket back to a healthy economy. I know the reason we live in the city and we stay in this city is because of the arts and culture and entertainment.
Q: Did the urgency of the economic crisis make you want this position?
A: Absolutely, and I think (it was also) the fact that I had went through the last economic downturn back in 2008 on the city side as a legislative aide and (made) some really hard choices, fundingwise. Because of COVID, because of what has happened with the arts community, it just almost went away, things like our festivals or parades, our cultural centers. Another one of my determinations for this position is I wanted to make sure that we stayed strong and support artists so we keep our artists here.
Q: Can you talk about your experiences when you were working as an artist and teacher in San Francisco in the ’80s and ’90s?
A: I grew up in Utah. My mom died when I was 14. My dad died when I was a year old. When I had a chance to leave (after college), I left for Los Angeles. My friends there were working (crew) on all these independent films; we would work on things from music videos to Playboy movies like “Hollywood Hot Tubs.” I came up to San Francisco to visit a friend that was an artist living here, and I fell in love with the city. I started meeting different artists, I learned how to be a printmaker. Someone told me about San Francisco City College welding classes; that’s when I started getting into metal art.
Q: Were you able to support yourself selling your work?
A: I work different odd jobs, I also started working at Hunters Point Boys and Girls Club teaching art. I started expanding the program to drawing and painting. It was probably one of my best jobs I ever had.
Q: Do you have a first 100day plan for Grants for the Arts?
A: First is dealing with the budget. Also, really looking at equity. There’s so many small arts programs, organizations and artists that have not been funded for different reasons or have lost funding. When I was supervisor, I passed the office of racial equity. That’s still a priority for me.
Q: Are there any organizations that you would like to take a second look at in terms of what’s available to them at Grants for the Arts?
A: The Day of the Dead altars (at Garfield Park) is one. The Black Film Festival is an amazing film festival. We need to make sure they both have what they need.
Q: What support do you want Grants for the Arts to offer beyond funding?
A: A lot of these organizations need help to write grants. When an organization can get some money from the city, some money from the state, some money from a foundation, it really helps diversify their funding. I think that outreach to communities is really important. In the city, it’s really hard to know that we’ve gotten to every nook and cranny about, “Hey, there’s a grant that you could apply for!” One of the things I always say to someone that’s never had a grant from the city is that you may have to start small, you might get a $5,000 grant, but if you do really well on that, then you should be able to ask for more. That’s something that I think that the city really should be looking at.
Q: Do you subscribe to the theory that by funding big arts organizations, it makes it possible for smaller ones to exist around them?
A: Absolutely. Large organizations employ a lot of artists. My big thing for the larger ones is really having them collaborate with a smaller organization.
Q: What’s your definition of equity?
A: In the arts world, I think equity has to really look at communities of color. For me, equity is listening to what the community needs. We have to have these hard conversations, and we have to first admit that it hasn’t been fair and (ask) how can the city move forward to amend it? I think that that’s going to be my role.